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Monday, 14 November 2016

Building Your Nest: Ways To Make Your Garden Sustainable And Eco-Friendly

As a species, all humans are under extreme pressure to improve the way they live and reduce their impact on the world. There are loads of ways that you can do this within the home; but, what can you do in your garden? A lot of gardens have tons of unused space that can be repurposed to help the planet. However small, these changes can still make a difference.

Unfortunately, unless you have a massive garden and several thousand to throw at it, you can’t really generate much power from your garden. Solar panels are great for your roof, but that’s not the garden. If you have a river on or a large hill your land, you can also look into hydro or wind power.

Compost Your Waste

Most of our food waste and other organics still have valuable energy that will simply go to waste, if thrown away. Instead, you can compost it. Composting is best done in the dark, as this will encourage insects to do their work. It’s also good to have a separate area of the garden for it; to avoid a mess. You can get your hands on a plastic composter for relatively little. They will reduce the smell, and help to keep everything tidy.

You can use compost on the plants in your garden to help them grow. By letting organic waste breakdown, you create a nutrient rich material without using chemicals. This is a great way to make it easier to grow your own food!

Grow Some Fruit And Veg

Most of the fruit and vegetables that we eat come from overseas. They’re transported across land, sea, and air before they meet our dinner plates. This isn’t a problem when you only consider yourself in the mix. But, with so many people relying on their food being available to buy, huge amounts of food have to be moved around.

By growing your own food, you can offset this a little bit. You probably can’t grow everything you’ll need, all year round. But, you can at least limit what you buy. Using a greenhouse will help you to grow food all year round, and will also keep your produce safe from animals.

If you talk to your friends and family, you can even arrange to grow food to share. If each of you focuses on one or two different types of food, you can share your extra produce with those around you; getting food in return.

Source Your Own Water

Just like our food, moving water around the world uses a lot of valuable resources, and contributes greatly to emissions. But, most of us live on our own hidden reservoir; the garden. Using Nicholls boreholes or a similar company, you can start sourcing your own water. A borehole takes advantage of the water that the soil and earth in our gardens absorb when it rains. You can start supplying nearly all of your water from your garden, shrinking your carbon footprint and water bill, at the same time.

Be creative, and take advantage of your space. It’s a good idea to leave an area of the garden to grow freely. This gives animals a place to live and increases your garden’s carbon conversion.

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About

The Diligent Gardener is an online gardening magazine based in the UK for keen gardeners. Whether you’ve got a garden, allotment, or balcony, you’ll find all the gardening ideas and advice you need to create a beautiful and truly satisfying private space to relax and be at home in. As well as tips and ideas for your own garden we can share with you the best days out and competitions.